The opening of production is mobilizing and feeding a number of possible futures that span from the creation of a post-capitalist mode of production based on shared resources, to the idea of collaboration and sharing as the new mantra for possible business models and startups. An in-depth mapping of the opening of production, the possibilities and challenges it entails is provided further on. What is important to highlight here is both how it challenges the traditional role of the designer and how it seems to open up the possibility of transforming or reforming the actual production system toward a more social and environmentally sustainable one.”

* PhD Thesis: ANNA SERAVALLI. MAKING COMMONS (attempts at composing prospects in the opening of production). Doctoral dissertation in Interaction Design. Malmö University, School of Arts and Communication, Faculty: Culture and Society, 2014

From the Abstract:

“This thesis accounts for a designerly inquiry into the swamp of the opening of production. The “opening of production” refers to the rising of openness, collaboration and sharing in processes through which things are made and service delivered. It is defined as a swamp, because it represents a complex landscape where theory and practice meet and where diverse views and understanding of what openness, collaboration and sharing may entail are intertwined.

The interest in exploring such a swamp stems from two concerns. The first is understanding the nature of open, collaborative, sharing production practices and to what extent they can lead to more environmentally and socially sustainable ways of producing things and delivering services.

The second concern is how, as a designer, it might be possible to engage in not only envisioning and prototyping, but also in constructing open, collaborative, sharing-production practices.

In methodological terms, this thesis uses a programmatic approach, which means the way knowledge is produced is in the interaction between the practice and the program that defines the focus of the inquiry; also, in what is to be explored and how to explore it. In regard to practical work, this thesis is based on two long-term engagements: the setting up and running of a makerspace, Fabriken, and the long-term collaboration with an NGO of immigrant women, Herrgårds Women Association (HWA). The program aims at exploring making commons and does so out of an interest in composing prospects.

The notion of making commons brings into the work theories and frames from the academic discourses around commons (i.e. collective and collaborative organizational forms) in order to articulate the nature of open, collaborative and sharing practices; it allows for discussion of the engagements, what they produce, and how they do it. It also allows for consideration into how these practices have been initiated, implemented, and carried out over time.

Composing prospects entails a particular way of exploring alternative futures by engaging in collective and located attempts at constructing them. Thus, it defines a possible way for designers to engage in the making. Further, it provides the possibility to relate the engagements to the expectations and broader scenarios emerging in the opening of production and to articulate what kind of making may be at play in acknowledging hypothetical futures as possible presents.

This inquiry builds on and addresses the fields of design for social innovation, participatory design, and commons”

Another summary with the conclusions by author Anna Seravalli:

“In a nutshell, this work wishes to provide three takeaways:

A context:

The opening of production, a map of the landscape of open, collaborative, and sharing-based production practices which weaves together practical examples and theoretical discourses around commons and heterodox economies. It articulates expectations and visions in the opening of production, what they may entail for the roles of producers, designers, and users, as well as a number of challenges and risks in relation to them.

A designerly approach:

Compositionism entails a specific way to frame and understand design when engaging with the making of possible presents rather than proposing alternative futures. Compositionism allows both articulating a particular way of working in the swamp as well as developing a discussion about how and why some futures may become presents and other may not.

A way to frame the outcome and the process of co-production processes:

Making commons develops as a two-fold notion, which allows for consideration of the design practice as matter of outcome as well as process when it comes to co-production.

In the understanding of commons which are making, it considers what open, collaborative, and sharing-based practices are generating and how they do it by considering their organizational forms, their sustainability, and how value is created through them.

In the understanding of commons which are being made, it focuses on what kind of design practice may be at play in co-production by articulating how commons can be initiated, constructed, continued, and left, and how this entails a specific way of performing openness, collaboration, and sharing.”